Counter Guardian
by Chryshauzer
Summary: The nameless Guardian finds himself doing another job for ALAYA. Although this time it is quite different, the same objective remains. Save humanity. Experiment fic
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

Upon a hill of swords, a nameless man sat.

He is called by many things, a guardian, a savior, a murderer. He is known by many and none at the same time. A paradox that exists outside of time and space; none of the world's laws apply to him.

Some would call him a hero.

Yet the man only views himself as a fool trapped in his own personal hell, unable to move on and unable to feel anything but regret. Trapped in eternal musing of what could have been.

He is a sword.

He is a faceless guardian chosen by the nameless.

Without any worldly desire, he is a man who would eventually be dragged to the deepest of the abyss in time, should he continue his path.

But that is a story for another time.

Sensing the presence of the entity that enslaved him, the sword stopped his musings.

What appeared in front of him was an orb.

Alaya did not view itself as a human despite being the collective unconsciousness. Instead, it tends to present itself as a system that contains a wealth of information.

This was the entity that he had sold his soul to.

The sword did not deign to stand, merely staring at the orb to show his response. His face betrayed no emotion. He had seen the spectacle countless times to even feel anything.

Briefly, he wondered.

What is it this time?

Destruction of humanity? Some fool who had accidentally opened a path to the root? Or perhaps the fourth beast had awakened yet again.

Then again it might be another cleaning job.

He had no further interest in the reason. He would do his job and that was it. There was no emotion needed. There was nothing else to consider. He was nothing but a tool of humanity.

The orb did not made any sounds.

Nevertheless, information traveled to his mind. It was like data being downloaded and processed in his brain. Alaya did not talk. It doesn't have any reason to.

He expected the usual but what was presented to him was nothing he had encountered before.

A world enveloped by darkness

A great evil was being awakened

The gods doing nothing but casting die

Creatures freely roaming the world

Innocent people taking the brunt of everything

A world that needed a savior…

The flow of information stopped. The exchange did not last for more than half a minute yet the sword felt like he had read an entire book. The amount of information was too much to be processed at once.

He huffed in annoyance.

This time it was different.

Yet his objective still remained the same.

Humanity has to survive.

 **Part 2**

His arrival did go unnoticed.

Considering he materialized inside of a desolated ruin, there wasn't really much to say. The walls were old and cracked, he was sure that there was something painted on it long ago but it was hard to tell now.

The scent struck him next.

He was not alone it seems.

Something inhuman was dwelling in the ruin. The smell of something rotten moving around assaulted his nose.

His ears could also hear the metal clanging loudly.

His mind automatically prepared his course of actions. The actions he could take were not as broad as his last job considering the uniqueness of this current job.

He gripped his hand.

The muscle stretched and strained as he did.

He had a body.

It was a physical body, not an artificial one that was normally given to him when on a job. This body was **_weak_**. He could feel his strength diminished. This body needed rest, sustenance.

How annoying.

His face scrunched up in distaste and he had to remind himself that this job was different than the rest.

He had no time limit.

He had to carefully consider his actions. His very being was against the wills of the gods that reside in this world. He was an outsider.

He was alone

He had nothing

Alaya cannot support him like usual. This time, there was no unlimited mana for him to use. He could not spam countless swords and bathe his enemies in death. This body had the same restrictions when he was alive.

That alone was a massive disadvantage.

Trace, on.

His body heated up as the aria was pronounced. Twenty seven circuits opened one by one, humming as the energy flowed through them. The quality was a little better than when he was alive, but it was still lacking.

At this current state, he could do fifteen or twenty high quality projections at most before this body reached its limit. Meaning he had to recover prana and od naturally.

Alaya was truly powerless in this world

How truly… annoying.

He was given an impossible task with this kind of body?

He huffed.

Leave it to Alaya to make his afterlife miserable.

 **Part 3**

Spearman greedily drank air as he killed another undead.

The quest that his party took was the subjugation of a necromancer that had rooted himself in this place. The reward had been a sack of gold from the temple that hired him and the Witch.

He should have thought that it wouldn't be that easy.

Releasing a great battle cry, his spear latched towards the nearest undead. The tip buried itself on the undead's chest but did nothing to stop it. He gritted his teeth and exerted more strength to throw the undead into the others.

This place was crawling with undead.

He had stopped counting when he had killed somewhere along fifty.

On hindsight, maybe it was a bad idea to storm the hideout of a necromancer with only two people.

From behind him, a ball of fire struck the group of undead, immediately turning them to ashes. It was a powerful spell called Prominent Fireball from his companion.

Witch exhaled a slow breathe as she held onto her staff.

"Witch, how many Spells do you have left?"

A person of Witch's caliber was rare to found. A silver ranked mage was fewer than scout's and it was a blessing for Spearman to have her in his party. Still, despite her rank, Witch still faces the same troubles as anyone.

Namely, the limit of the Spells she could perform every day.

"I still can do around five more, Spearman, I recommend that we, retreat for now. There could be more undead, the nearer we get to the Necromancer."

Spearman pursed his lips. They had been inside this ruin for half a day. During that time, they had faced a lot of undead. They were naturally exhausted and running low on power.

But if they leave now, the Necromancer would be able to replenish his undead… or even leave this place.

Still, he was not an idiot. One did not reach the silver rank by being reckless. He would not risk the life of his party for a sack of gold… even if it hurts his pride.

"Fine. Let's hire Heavy Warrior and his party next time…"

Spearman frowned. This was a failed mission but it would be better to retreat now than face the unknown number of undead in this place. Well, whatever, maybe he'd just drink to his heart's content or chat Guild Girl to forget about this failure.

The two of them were about the exit to the corridor when a large movement resounded.

Spearman widened his eyes and adopted a fighting stance while Witch raised her staff in front of them.

[Leaving like that after disturbing my home? I think not… adventurers!]

What came out from the darkness was a massive skeleton covered in pitch black armor and sword.

"Wh-what the heck is that?!"

The figure was a monstrosity over four meters tall. Covered with armor from head to toe, its hands that look like it could fit a person's head inside its palms were holding two swords respectively.

Spearman and Witch had faced their own share of monsters before but this was the first time they had seen this kind of creature.

Before Witch could respond, the hulking enemy rushed at the two of them.

Fast!

In just a second the monster had traveled five meters and was in front of them. Spearman met his attack head on, blocking the bastard sword with the body of his spear.

"Guh!"

It wasn't even a contest of strength.

Spearman who was called as the Frontier's Strongest was blown away from the massive power behind the attack.

 **Part 4**

 _Fire that lights even the darkest of nights_

 _I beg to borrow your power_

 _I hereby call_

 _Prominent Fireball!_

The Spell that Witch unleashed was something akin to her trademark spell. She had received this particular spell when she had received the rank of silver years ago.

It was also her most powerful attack available.

The enemy who could only be the Necromancer was hit by her Spell and was send a few meters away from the force. During that time, Witch had run towards Spearman who was still down from their clash.

"Spearman!"

Her party member groaned as she tried to stand. It was clear that he was wounded from the blood that escaped the corners of his mouth.

"We must leave now. The enemy is too much for us!"

The two of them had been exhausted fighting the hordes of undead. It was clear that they had no chance winning the enemy with tired bodies.

[And what makes you think that you can leave here alive?]

Witch's blood ran cold as she heard the voice.

Naturally, the enemy stood right behind them.

But how? How the enemy still be moving after being hit by her most powerful spell?

She had no time to ponder as her body exploded in pain.

Both Witch and Spearman bounced off the wall as they were kicked with astounding force.

[You come in my home and destroy my creations. Now you think you can simply leave without consequences?]

The Necromancer's booming voice shook the hall.

In her state, Witch saw that her spell had melted off the armor of the massive skeleton. From inside, she could see glimpses of the human that was controlling the hulking figure.

[No… the price for your crimes shall be your lives!]

Her body ached as she tried to move.

Beside her, Spearman who looked like a mess stood while clutching his spear. His breathing was ragged and he was wounded all over.

"W-Witch… get out of here. I-I'm gonna fight him."

Ah… this is bad. Her clouded brain could not think of anything to save them. Maybe if she didn't let go of her staff she could do something. Anything to support Spearman.

"I-idiot. Do I look like I can get far in this state?"

Just a single kick from the armored monstrosity was enough to break some of her bones. The fact that it could move faster than them meant that there was no possible escape.

Their enemy was a necromancer… there was no doubt what would happen to their bodies afterwards. But what if Necromancer had other plans for them?

Her limp body shook.

The fear from her early adventuring career had come back. She had thought that she had surpassed the fear of death and torture… but it was clear that that wasn't the case.

The enemy had started walking towards them.

No… not like this.

She did not want to die like this.

She still hasn't…

Spearman released a war cry as he charged towards Necromancer.

" _Caladbolg!"_

A blue light drowned the hall and made everyone close their eyes. The place shook as whatever that thing is proceeded to destroy everything in its path. Witch could hear the ruin breaking as the seconds passed.

The moment she opened her eyes, she took note of the fact that Necromancer was gone and Spearman was blown away.

There was also a giant hole from where the blue light had traveled.

Just what happened?

The sound of footsteps made Witch and Spearman turn to the direction where the blue light had came from.

The dust settled as a figure of man appeared.

Clad in black leather vest and strapped pants, the man possessed a white hair and tanned skin in the likes of those who lived in the desert. His steel colored eyes scanned the hall like a hawk until finally, his gaze settle on them.

"Wh-who the heck are you?"

Spearman grunted as he supported himself.

The unknown man blinked at looked closer at Spearman. He closed his eyes a moment later and adopted a smirk.

"Just… a simple Bowman."

 **Part 5**

Name: Bowman

Class: None

Stats:

STR: D (C)

AGL: C (B)

END: D (C)

MP: B

NP: ?


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 1**

"Wh-who the heck are you?"

The nameless guardian paused on his step as he glanced at the spear-warrior who was struggling to stay upright. Memories of a blue man with a crimson spear briefly appeared on his mind as he stared at the warrior who shared resemblance with Lancer.

He allowed himself to smirk.

Truly wonders never cease. He had to wonder if somehow, this was orchestrated by Alaya. Still, it seems like he had saved them from being killed by that man inside the skeletal armor.

"Just… a simple Bowman."

That would do for now. He had no name; he had no history in this world. He was just an outsider who was in the right place in the right time.

His thoughts lingered to the enemy he had killed. He would take a guess that that was the master of this tomb. His attack had obliterated it but…

Could it be possible that…

"Is-is that supposed to mean something?"

The spear-warrior grumbled as he went to his companion; a woman of beauty and voluptuous body who casted fire magic with her staff before taking her eyes off the enemy.

Which was a really bad move.

You don't take your eyes off the enemy when they are still alive. That's the basic of the basic. The woman was concerned for her partner so he could understand somewhat. But it was still a bad move that almost cost them their lives.

Bowman's eyes trailed the destruction that was made by his attack. He had used Caladbolg in order to measure his opponent's capacity and strength. The Noble Phantasm had completely destroyed the enemy which was good, but didn't really inform him of anything aside that it was over kill.

But there was something that bugged him.

Although the great sword was not filled to the brim with prana, he had not expected it to be so weak. The power output of the Caladbolg he had shot was only half of what it should be.

Something was wrong.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard spear-warrior speak.

"Not that we don't appreciate your help buddy, but what are you doing here?"

After drinking something from a glass container, the spear-warrior looked healthier than earlier, the wounds and bruises on his body lightening every second. The effects of a potion most likely.

Still, this was not the time to ponder about this world's medicine. This was the chance to conjure his background story and perhaps gain more information about this world.

He needed their trust… not.

They were simply the most convenient source of information. He could live without them being indebted to him.

But he needed a good lie.

"I was curious about this place so I decided to explore a bit. My meeting with you is purely coincidental."

First he needed to know where he was.

Spear-warrior frowned at his shallow answer.

"Exploration huh? That's strange; this place should be banned for the normal people?"

Well, that confirmed his theory that this place was dangerous. Enough that the officials had to stop people from coming here. The two people in front of him were most likely hired to investigate this place or something close.

He shrugged.

"I think you can see that I'm not really from around here."

This was the first bait, implying that he wasn't from anywhere near. Both the spear-warrior and the mage had fair skin tone, meaning that from his appearance they must conclude that he is someone from the desert or the east.

"Yeah, you don't look like someone from these parts."

The spear-warrior mumbled. Bowman could see him considering his lies. His eyes wandered to the mage who was still sat down and found her eyes examining him. Unfortunately, it wasn't the type that he enjoyed.

She was suspicious of him.

Unlike the spear-warrior who was talking to him who seem to be giving him a chance to prove himself, the female mage was distrusting. She was not the type that easily let her guard down.

He could respect that. A part of him even wondered about the possibility of her sharing the common traits of magus from his world.

"Hey what's the problem Witch? I don't think this guy's an enemy ya know?"

The spear-warrior noticed this as well.

"I, apologize. But, after seeing the Spell he had performed. It seems, that my passion is being, challenged."

It was a lie, and the three of them knew it.

There was something about the Bowman that bothered her, made her unable to calm down. He didn't know what it was but he knew a lost cause when he sees one.

It seems like he won't be able to get much from them.

"I can see that my presence is not welcome."

He shrugged helplessly while the spear-warrior frowned, the female mage tensed even more as if expecting him to lash out.

"Hey man, don't think it the wrong way but…"

He halted the spear-warrior.

"Hmph. Don't worry, I do not seek any trouble. But I will appreciate it if you can tell me where I can find the nearest city."

Now that he can't slowly worm his way to their group, the next step should be asking for a place where he can plan for his future actions. A city would be able to provide him with information and a means to take care of his fragile body.

Surely they could part with that…

"Err, a city huh? Well if you head to west the water city would be four days of journey, but if you go north for two days there's the smaller wind city."

Two choices. The nearest city is implied to be smaller but it would have to do for now. He needed information and a place to rest his body. The patterns for his next actions automatically appeared in his head.

"I see. My thanks."

With his destination set, the nameless Bowman walked the corridor where he came. The thought of escorting the two adventurers entered his mind, but with the way female mage was acting around him, he discarded it.

Now that the major threat had been dealt with, he had no more reason to assist the two of them

 **Part 2**

The Bowman's footsteps resounded inside the ruin.

Spearman who watched him left with a frown glanced at his companion. He had been adventuring with Witch since the beginning and had seen sides of her many did not know. But despite that, her actions still bothered him.

"What was that about Witch?"

The Bowman had helped them from that tough situation earlier, that alone was enough to earn his respect. He seemed a little snobbish and annoying but Spearman didn't get the feeling that he wanted to harm them.

"I apologize, Spearman. I admit that, it was very rude of me."

Spearman hurried to help Witch who was struggling to stand up. Even after drinking a healing potion, it looks like they had to hire a priestess to heal their broken bones.

Witch collected her fallen staff and gazed at the destruction that the Bowman had made earlier. The left part of the hall sustained heavy damage. The thick walls were now rubbles and the damage seem to go even deeper.

Spearman wasn't an expert in Spell but he had enough knowledge to know that whatever attack the Bowman did, it was something that surpassed even Witch's most powerful attack.

"Hey Witch, did you think that guy serves the God of Destruction or something?"

In his entire adventuring career, it was the first time Spearman had seen a Spell that brought forth this much damage.

Spells were something that a person can cast based from their research. Unlike Miracles that came from the gods, some spells can be used even without faith, seeing as Witch herself did not devote herself in religion.

"This Spearman, is the reason why I could not calm down."

Witch pointed at the destruction in front of them.

"That spell, that spell that Bowman used is beyond mine. I can only think, that the spell he used, is in the leagues of a Gold rank."

"Seriously?!"

The highest rank there is was Platinum and only a few people in history had achieved such rank. What followed was the Gold rank which is held only by the strongest adventurers around, those who possessed this rank usually worked for the national government.

And this Bowman could easily pass for this rank.

"Hey Witch, you're kidding right? I know that it was powerful than your Prominent Fireball, but Gold rank? Aren't you exaggerating a bit?"

No, she wasn't exaggerating. Witch who had devoted herself in creating Spells knew that what the Bowman unleashed was ten times even greater than her prided spell.

For someone to be able to use such a powerful spell at that age, there was no mistaking that Bowman was powerful.

Now, the question is who is he?

She had been adventuring with Spearman for at least five years, yet she had heard rumors about a person who possessed such a spell. Granted, Bowman had said that he was not from here but that only raised more suspicions.

Why was that person here, in this place?

"Spearman, let us finish this quest quickly."

They needed to report this incident to the guild.

 **Part 3**

The Bowman had spent one day traveling.

His current body was tougher than a normal humans, but was not anywhere near when he had been a servant or when he was deployed to a normal mission. He was not used to feeling hunger and exhaustion.

After he had left the ruins that was buried deep inside the jungle, he had headed north, only pausing to kill monsters and wild beasts that had attacked him. He had killed a bear and skinned off its pelt to cover his body. The meat had been used for sustenance for his journey.

On the way to the wind city, he had a chance to think deeply of what happened in the ruins. The Noble Phantasm that he had used was weaker than normal. He had not attempted to project another Noble Phantasm due to his worry, but had come into a conclusion.

The Noble Phantasms that he can project had been downgraded by a rank.

That was the only reasonable explanation he had come up with.

In the first place, Caladbolg had never existed in this world. He had reasoned that without an actual legend to support the sword, it had come out as a weaker version of itself. The only thing that provided Caladbolg power was its history from his original world, and even that wasn't enough.

The history and legend of a Noble Phantasm is tied to its strength. So projecting it in a world where its history and legend did not occur would severely weaken its power.

Or at least that's the conclusion he had come up with.

Then there was another problem that he had encountered.

His prana and od were barely regenerating.

In his projection of a broken Noble Phantasm, he had used at least seven or nine percent of his current prana. The fact that it had been a day should have at least recovered him half of that amount.

But if his guess was correct, he had only regenerated one or two percent of that amount. At first he had thought that his body needed a rest in order to recover, but after two hours of meditating, there was not much of a change.

This could be a big problem.

His plans would be halted back dramatically if he could not access his power.

Then again nothing was ever easy for him.

He had to refrain projecting Noble Phantasms as their cost are ten times more expensive than normal projections. Which means no blowing enemies from afar and explosions of light.

Once again, Alaya had brought him nothing but trouble.

Stuck in a mortal body with limited access to his own powers was troublesome. The Bowman would admit that he had grown used in being able to project swords and kill his enemies in a hail of steel.

It seems that he had to give up that approach this time.

Still, it did not pose a crippling problem. The time when he had been alive might be nothing but a blur to him but he could remember the days when he would entrust his life in mundane weapons.

His experience as a Guardian would be of help.

Accepting that his job just got harder, Bowman focused on his next actions. He needed to find a place to stay in the wind city.

Once again that posed more problems. He suppressed a dejected sigh at the thought. A part of him, the one that had embraced being a Guardian, thought that he had missed the days when all he had to do was kill.

He buried that thought in the deepest part of his mind as it appeared.

Now, onto problems and solutions.

First and foremost, his identity.

He had called himself a Bowman and displayed power in front of two individuals. He cannot disregard that they will disclose his appearance to their superiors and questions would be directed at him.

He would take the guise of a foreigner from faraway lands. The reason why he is in this place would be to start anew and leave that old life that he lived. He could pretend to be a former warrior or a mercenary, which may attract attention, but he wasn't really lying low at the moment.

His skills would involve a bow, some sword skills and magic.

Taking note of the important parts, the next problem is livelihood.

He could work as a blacksmith and a cook, or a warrior if the city ever needed one. He still had no idea of how life in the city works so he needs to observe for some time before he could finalize his plans.

Then comes the most difficult, saving humanity.

On that… he had no idea.

Damn it, his life sucks.

 **Part 4**

The Bowman paused in his tracks as the walls of wind city greeted him. It resembled the great walls that the Romans used to defend their city. He had to remind himself that despite magic and gods, this world was still in a medieval era.

Well then, time to blend in.

He followed the lines of caravans heading inside the city and discreetly entered one. He had no illusions that the guards would not question him. After all, his appearance was strange and he was wearing a bear pelt.

While he did not have Presence Concealment, it was quite easy to avoid the guards who weren't too motivated to do their jobs.

He slipped off the caravan once it got in and paused as he saw different kinds of races mingling about.

Okay… what?

There was a reptilian creature yelling around people… in a sermon? A woman with animal features was selling some kind of food while a short bearded man was cooking on a stall.

His eyes registered even more weird creatures but he settled for closing his eyes and palming his face.

For crying out loud Alaya…

"Just where did you send me?"


End file.
